


Falling in Like

by olkariplant



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, i think voltron is dead now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-05-10 09:21:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14734296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olkariplant/pseuds/olkariplant
Summary: Keith Kogane does not love people, much less love Lance McClain.





	1. Chapter One

"Again," Keith Kogane grunted, raising his fists to guard his face. 

"You've got it, pretty boy." Keith rolled his eyes. His (sparring) partner of six years, Allura Altea, had learned the ways to push his buttons, but knowing someone for six years gave you resistance to mental taunts. What it did not do, however, was give you physical resistance. 

"Cheap shot, Allura," he whined, holding his stomach. The tall girl flicked her long hair over her shoulder and laughed. Why'd she fight with her hair down anyways? Wasn't it an inconvenience? 

"I can't believe my little champion gets put off by a little flattery. Go again, blade boy." Allura had dubbed Keith as blade boy years ago when she had visited his home for the first time and seen the shadow box display of knives in his bedroom. 

"I'm older than you!" He cried indignantly, making a move to smack at her collarbone. A graceful technique. Her arm flew up to block the hit and she moved in with a series of quick, two-fingered jabs to his weak points, and he dramatically fell to the floor. 

"Keef!" Keith snorted at the nickname. "Why are you so out of it today? And you forget that no, you're not older than me. I have months above you," Allura huffed and sat against the gym wall. 

Keith sighed and said, "What's it to you, planetarium woman?" The nicknames and name-calling was the unique dynamic that the pair had honed to a fine point.  
"I didn't name myself! You know my space nerd dad," she pouted. "When I was born, my mom called him while he was studyi-" Keith cut her off.

"Yeah, yeah, your dad was in Planet Nerd Central, your mom went into labor, and since they made the promise of naming, he got to name you, and it ended up being really stupid. Sob story, sweetheart. I get it. A hundred percent."

"I was just explaining!"

"For the thirtieth time?"

"It was not!"

"You're right... more like fifty..."

"Mullet!"

"Grandma!"

"Vampire!"

"Idiots!" A new voice interrupted their banter, causing the teenagers to jump. "I leave you for half an hour, only to come back to see you back on the floor when you're supposed to be practicing; You need to stay in shape!"

"Shiro, calm down, would you?" Keith said. "We've been at it for ages! Besides, we work out so much you'd think we would be super buff like you."

"An hour? Is that ages? I don't think so! Get back to work," Shiro commanded.

Both Keith and Allura stood back up with a sigh and obeyed his command.

\-----

When Keith and Allura emerged into the sun from the gym with Shiro hours later, they were sweating and panting. The showers had been closed for maintenance, leaving people to stare and scrunch up their noses in passing. The sight of two sweaty students in school clothes did not seem to settle well with the general public. The cold, winter air bit into their skin as they started down the street towards their apartment building.

"There goes all my chances with the guys," Allura sighed dramatically as they walked. "I guess I will be forever alone."

"You forget, darling, that you never had a chance in the first place," Keith taunted, jumping into the street to avoid her wrath.

"Why you little-" Allura gave up speaking the rest of her sentence in favor of chasing Keith across the road.

"Guys! There are cars out the- I give up," muttered Shiro, shaking his head and safely crossing at the corner. Already he was plotting their demise.

"I will kill you in your sleep!" Allura shifted her gym bag to be situated more like a backpack and ran faster after her friend.

"Not if you can't catch me!" Keith ran faster, weaving between people who were moving out of the way to avoid them. He ran through the park all the way to the entrance of his apartment building. "Keys, keys, where are my keys?" he mumbled, rifling around in his bag.

"Gotcha!" Allura shouted, shoving him to the ground. She stood triumphantly over him with her foot on his stomach. "Take that! I got you…" she trailed off. More pedestrians were staring at the sweaty boy on the ground with the pretty but still sweaty girl on top of him.

"Maybe we should get up," Keith suggested. "People are staring." He pushed Allura's leg off his stomach and rolled over. "Any idea where my keys are?"

"Oh, I have them," Allura smirked. "I figured you'd run from me. Always happens. Here," she tossed the keys into his open hands.

"Thanks for that, really."

"Oh shit, where's Shiro?"

"Right here." Standing behind them like a very angry bodyguard was Takashi Shirogane himself with his arms crossed and glaring at them with his dad stare. "You two, just, you… I give up. Go shower and have dinner- I will be texting you to confirm. Photographic evidence required."

"Is that your creative way of asking for nudes?" Allura taunted.

"W-what? I- no!" Shiro quickly turned very red. "Just, go, both of you!"

"Score, Altea," Keith complimented, reaching out for a high five. 

"I try." Allura grabbed Keith's hand and pulled him into the building. Straight through the lobby, into the elevator, press the sixth floor button, and they arrived at their flat.

"See you in ten minutes for food?" Keith asked once they arrived inside.

"I bet I can be done in eight."

"You're on," challenged Allura. "I'm not losing this time." They each split off to their bedrooms with one final glance at the other.

"What the hell did you do?" Keith had walked out of his bedroom after showering, in just a towel, only to find Allura standing in the living room, fully dressed with her hands on her hips. "There's no way you showered and got dressed in that tiny window, especially considering the hair you have to wash!"

"Well, let's just say I eliminated a factor," she said, looking guiltily at the floor.

"Don't fucking tell me…" Keith knew how competitive the girl was, but never expected her to go this far. 

Allura giggled at his shocked face. "No, Keith. I just didn't shower. Did you think I'd actually cut my hair off?" She pulled off the towel covering her hair.

"You always do crazy shit like that! Remember when you cut the sleeves off of all your t-shirts just because you broke your arm and couldn't fit the cast through them?"

"That was one time!"

"One time too many! And need I remind you of when you wrote an entire essay because Shiro said that he didn't like Wonder Pets when he was a kid?"

"Tuck, Ming Ming, and Linny were iconic!"

"Allura," Keith deadpanned. "Look at Red's face. Even she realises that you're insane." Keith was holding his black cat, creatively named Red, up to Allura's unconvinced face. 

"Red is just a cat," Allura pointed out, "but she's so soft." Allura reached out to give her a scratch behind the ears and stared into her blue eyes. "Okay, okay. I'm convinced."

"Ha, yes! Vanquished again," Keith declared. He sat Red on his lap and lifted up one of her paws for a high five.

"You are such a dork." Allura sighed and sat on the couch in defeat.

"I know I am, and I am proud of it."

"I know you are, Keith. I know. Oh! We have to send pictures to Shiro to prove we showered. Wanna tease him and take it together in the same shower?"

"You know me so well, but you smell like ass currently. Can you actually shower first?" Keith comically moved away and waved at the air in front of him.

Allura, pretending to be annoyed by his jokes, said, "The only one who smells ass is you because you eat it so often."

"At least I get some, honey." Keith was used to quick jabs at his sexuality, but with his best friend, it was okay. She accepted him and loved him for who he was.

"Too true. Shower picture now?"

"You know it, dude."

Keith: Attachment: 1 image  
Shiro: WHAT THE HELL, KEITH?! WHAT DOES IS THE FACT THAT YOU JUST SEND ME A PICTURE OF ALLURA KISSING YOU ON THE CHEEK WHILE YOU STAND SHIRTLESS IN THE SHOWER. I MEAN, SHE'S NOT SHIRTLESS, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO STEAL MY LOVE!  
Keith: dude, calm tf down  
Allura: Yes, dude, please be calm.

"Why are you texting so formally?" Keith questioned, used to Allura's abbreviated and usually difficult to interpret messages.

"I feel like it'll piss him off more. Oh, look, he's responding!"

Shiro: oh shit  
Shiro: hi allura  
Shiro: didn't see you there  
Allura: Aw, I'm invisible to you? I thought you liked me :(  
Shiro: what  
Shiro: no  
Shiro: who told you that  
Shiro: keith you insufferable prat  
Allura: Prat? Have I been rubbing off on you?  
Keith: you brought this upon yourself this time, you literally said 'my love'  
Shiro: fuck off  
Shiro: i'm telling pidge  
Shiro: she's gonna kick your ass  
Keith: terrifying. a baby gremlin, whatever shall i do?

"Well, that's the end of that. At least we get out of eating healthy, right?" Keith turned off his phone, shoved Allura's feet off of his lap, and got off the couch. "But I assume this means that Pidge is gonna be here sometime today or tomorrow."

"I agree to tease one of my closest friends with the knowledge that he does indeed like me, there's going to be guests who steal my food, and now my footrest is leaving me? I should just go to bed," sighed Allura. She shoved her face into Red's fur. "Although, food does sound good. Can we pretty please make pancakes? Please?" After learning of Allura's affinity for sweets, Keith had done everything in his power to keep some sort of sweets in the house through the searches that Shiro performed, not to mention Pidge's raids of the cabinets.

"You know all Pidge wants from us is our wifi connection and snacks," reminded Keith.

"But they're my snacks!"

"You are so unhealthy."

"Says Mr.-I-drink-six-cups-of-coffee daily."

"It helps your brain cells!"

"Helps them die out, that is," Allura muttered. "Let's make pancakes!"

\-----

"What's up, motherfuckers?" The presence of Keith and Allura's closest friend besides Shiro, Pidge, was announced by her foul language and the slam of the front door. "Shiro sent me to kick your asses, specifically Keith's, so if you could shoot him a message saying I took care of it, it would be much appreciated. Allura, there's syrup on your face. Keith, flour in your hair and on your pants. Meanwhile, I brought you guys something, so I'll go... you know, take care of that." She waved past the people in the kitchen and continued to the living room.

"You know, you'd think we'd get used to her rambling after a while, but I still find myself shocked into silence every time she does it," Allura said.

"I didn't notice her carrying anything, did you?" Keith intoned.

"She was wearing her nerd-pack. Whatever she has for us she would have in there."

Keith's eyes suddenly widened as he said, "You know what happened last time she brought us something!" He jumped off the barstool he had taken residence at and ran after Pidge. "Pidge, no! We are not having another paper-mache robot incident!"

Allura sighed, now alone at the breakfast bar with a bowl of popcorn in front of her. "Those two will be the death of me." Like the responsible mom she was, she had cleaned up the entire paper-mache robot incident while Keith and Pidge had bickered in the corner. "Love them to death, but really..." she trailed off as Pidge returned to the kitchen.

"Talking to yourself again, princess?" Pidge smiled innocently.

"Back already? That was quick. Plus, you know I only let Shiro call me that, Pidge."

"Aw, does someone have a crush?" Pidge asked in her best sing-song voice.

Allura flushed red, deep enough to show through her chestnut skin, and stuttered, "Y-you know nothing, child."

Pidge smiled again. "Anyways, I gotta go back home. Matt is taking me to the hardware store with him to pick up more crap for his computer thing that he's working on with Shiro. By the way, Red's food bowl is empty, so don't starve her."

"Oh, I'll make sure Keith does that. Speaking of Keith, what happened to him? And finally, thank you." Pidge was silent, a smirk beginning to form. "Don't tell me you did it again? Pidge?" The last time Pidge had left their flat in a hurry, Allura had found Keith tied to the couch with a suspicious looking tie. 

"He's probably fine," Pidge said with her famous shit-eating grin on her face.

"What do you mean probably?"

"Matt is expecting me!" Pidge ran out after her declaration and gave Allura no chance to respond. Sighing in defeat, Allura locked the door and went to find her roommate.

"Keith?" She took on her cautionary mom voice and she ventured into the living room. "Did Pidge tie you up again?" She glanced at the couch and breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Oh, hey, look what Pidge brought us!" Keith was seated on the ottoman in the center of the room holding a Wii controller in his hands with Red, who looked pissed, sitting in his lap.

"She really gave us her Wii?" Allura and anyone who knew Pidge could one hundred percent say that the Wii was one of her most prized possessions. 

"Pidge said that she finally figured out how to build her own, so yes, she did." Keith hadn't taken his eyes off the screen where he was immersed in a round of Mario Kart. "Fuck off, Luigi," he mumbled.

"Keith, you can't spend all day playing Mario Kart. You have an interview tomorrow at eight." Allura pushed herself off the doorframe and walked past Keith, deliberately in front of him. With a final warning look to Keith, who ignored it, she turned off the console.

"Allura! What the hell? It's only like eight!" Keith sprawled himself across the ottoman, well aware that he needed this job more than anything. Currently, he wasn't paying any rent to live with Allura off-campus of their school, University of Marmora.

"No, it's eleven. You know Pidge is a night owl- She rarely ever visits any time before ten, and if she does, it's with Shiro and Matt."

"Well, let's see. If I go to bed now and fall asleep at midnight, that allows for," Keith paused for calculations, "Seven hours of sleep. Plenty of time. Now leave me alone, I've only been playing for like fifteen minutes."

"Keith, I turned off the Wii. You're done."

"But-"

"Nope, you're done. Bedtime," Allura insisted. She left no room for argument and snatched the controller from Keith's pale hands. After throwing it on the couch, she grabbed his arm and dragged him through the hallway to the bathroom. "Sit here - I'm going to brush your hair, if you can call it that." Allura grabbed a brush from the drawer, sat behind the boy, and began running it gently through Keith's hair.

"Leave my mullet alone! Who are you, my mom?" Keith whined.

"No, Keith, I'm actually here for you." Allura felt the boy become tense in her grasp. "Oh, no, shit, Keith, I'm sorry."

"No- it's- you're," he sighed, "You're fine. Don't worry about it."

"I didn't mean to bring it up." Allura's voice was very weak.

"I said it was fine!" Keith stood up abruptly and left the room, slamming the door behind him. Allura called out and reached for his arm as he stormed out, but was only met with a closed door- the sign of defiance she had become accustomed to.


	2. Chapter Two

The next morning, the apartment was enveloped in silence. What used to be playful bickering was now a tense tranquility that neither resident was willing to break, not considering the fact that one person was still asleep. Keith had woken up in his clothes from the previous day and tangled in his red sheets. Allura had fallen asleep on her bean bag chair cradling the cat, who normally stayed nearer to Keith, preferring his silence to Allura's upbeat and quirky attitude. Neither of them made a move, even when knocks resonated from the front door.

"Keith? Allura?" Shiro's familiar voice seemed to be impossibly louder as it echoed within the flat walls. "You two better be awake; I'm coming inside." He shifted the tray he was holding and reached into his pocket and fumbled to find the key he had been given. Before he got the chance, however, the door opened and he stood face-to-face with a grumpy, bed-head ridden Keith.

"What do you want so early?" Keith didn't sound very happy, and his eyes were puffy and red, presumably from crying.

Shiro held up his hands in a manner of offering and displayed the coffee he had brought and cautioned, "I bought coffee for you guys?" Keith's eyes followed the path of Shiro's prosthetic arm, and, upon seeing the coffee, he seemed to light up.

"Shiro, you are my new favourite." The nineteen year old opened to door wide enough to allow Shiro inside without difficulty then closed and locked it. They made their way to the kitchen and sat at the counter.

"Where's the princess?" Shiro questioned, genuinely interested as to the whereabouts of the other occupant of the place. He quickly realised his mistake when the ever-sullen boy hid behind his bangs in what could only be seen as shame.

"I snapped at her for mentioning my mom and ran out of the bathroom while she was brushing my hair," he quietly admitted.

Now off track, Shiro said, "Why was she brushing your hair?"

"I was supposed to have a job interview this morning."

"What do you mean was?"

"It got cancelled. They hired somebody else."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Keith. I know you needed that job."

"I don't care." Anyone who knew him well, though, could tell that he did indeed care by the lowered voice and subtle glare he gave his coffee.

"I'm sure." Shiro tried to reach a hand to Keith's shoulder, but it was brushed away as Keith stood up.

"I need to apologise to Allura," he decided. "You can stay if you want, but it might be better if you didn't."

"I have to get to Matt's anyway. Good luck with that." Shiro offered a smile and turned to leave. "If you need a place to crash, my place is always open." With that, Shiro left Keith sitting at the counter, a cup of coffee in his hand.

Making a bold decision, Keith set his cup down and went to wake up his flatmate.

He first tried to gently knock on the door and whisper, "Allura? Are you awake?" When that proved unsuccessful, he warned her he was entering and did so. Upon entering, he let out a little sigh and a soft smile graced his features. The sight of his best friend with her long, silver-white hair spread out on the pink bean bag in the corner of her room while holding a wide-awake Red was almost enough to make him forgive her immediately, but he knew it wasn't that easy.   
Using gentle steps as not to wake her, he padded over to her bed, grabbed her fluffy white blanket, and gently set it over her. The girl stirred momentarily but did not awaken. 

"I'm sorry, Red, I really am. I'll be back for you," he whispered, laughing quietly at the sight of the cat looking almost offended at being abandoned. He made his way out of the room and back to his bedroom. He entered slowly into the white-painted space and directed his attention to the disheveled bed. There were pillows on the ground that he had thrown there in his fit of anger, but they now lay there as a reminder of his lashing out. He was a temperamental person who tended to have outbursts if anything upset him, and it wasn't the first time he had snapped at Allura.

Keith moved around the room mechanically, picking up the pillows and throwing them carelessly in the direction of the bed. When he got to his desk, he had to gather the expensive pencils he had received as a holiday gift from Allura last year. 

Currently, he studied Studio Arts at University Marmora while living off-campus. The professor, Thace, was a tall, thin man with such an intimidating glare that nobody would guess he was capable of art, but he was hired for his renown charcoal drawings of the sky in both the night and day. Although those were his most famous, Thace was a highly talented realistic artist. He specialised in the study of the human body, which his class was now learning. 

Allura studied in the Medical course. She took Microbiology during her first year, but was now close to completing her fourth. Both she and Keith were only nineteen, but she had taken all the highschool courses with college credits. It also helped that her father was close to the headmaster and the head of a medical supply manufacturing firm.

Pidge was a student in Aerospace Engineering and Robotics, something that their university was famous for. She often came around with stories of their professor, Professor Ulaz. He was known for sending his robots on suicide missions; anything in order to defeat his students in competitions. The most famous competition was when he sent the first prototype of his hover-bot into the mouth of a competitor's trash compactor copy-machine, which caused the opponent's bot to implode.

Shiro wasn't currently in school, having graduated two years ago with an Associate's Degree in Biomedical Engineering. He and his best friend Matt Holt (Pidge's older brother) were working on developing a realistically simulated game where the player would have to wear a headpiece and glove set to recreate the feel of whatever they were doing in the game. With Shiro's medical knowledge and Matt's computer skills, Keith had full confidence in their success.  
"Keith?" A quiet voice from the direction of his doorway caused Keith to snap out of his thoughts and whirl around. Allura stood there with her arms crossed at the wrist and her eyes wise in concern. 

"Allura, I-" he started.

"No, Keith. Don't apologise. It's not your fault." She didn't give him the chance to even form a coherent thought. "I just wasn't thinking and… said it."

"No, Allura. I should've learned not to lash out at you by now." They had known each other for so long that Keith saw it unfair to be this cold towards her.

"Look at us, apologising like a health class example of a broken relationship. Two sentences and I'm tearing up." Allura wiped moisture from the corner of her eye and continued to speak. "Best friends forever?"

"I refuse to respond to that," Keith laughed.

"You just did," said Allura.

"Well fuck me sideways in the asshole."

"That's gay, honey."

"So am I, and it's not gay if you do it." Keith smiled a little bit and went to reach for a high-five.

"Don't even try that, buddy," Allura said as she instead opted for a hug.

"'llura!" Keith exclaimed as his head was smashed into the tall girl's chest. "Your tits are suffocating me!"

"We already made up, Keith. Don't flatter me." Allura didn't alter the position Keith was in and instead held him tighter. "This is to make up for all those years you missed the physical contact, you poor thing."

"Keith Kogane: Death by Tits. That would be ironic, wouldn't it?"

"Shut up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry this is short - i'm no good at writing fillers for anything. next chapter will be longer!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> enter: lotor and matt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have like... two other chapters but they're not directly after this, so i'm sorry! i only write in school and it's nearly over, so i'll try my best during the summer.

Later that day, Keith was laying on the couch playing Mario Kart while Allura was at work. She worked part-time at her father, Alfor's, planetarium-esque store that sold all the astronomical supplies one could think of. Telescopes, star maps, planetary diagrams, books on theoretical astrology, and everything in between. He loved wandering into the back room and offices where Alfor kept spinning star maps that lit up and covered the entire room. Sometimes Keith would go with Allura to work just to lay on the floor of the storeroom and read in the light of spinning stars and forget whatever plagued his mind.

Keith was shocked out of his daydreams of space when his phone buzzed next to him. The screen had lit up with a text from Pidge: i need help moving some equipment. care to show? i have one other guy already but he's no use.

He responded that he'd be at her dorm room in twenty minutes and stood up to get dressed. He was wearing his pajamas, consisting of an old t-shirt with some logo on it from god-knows-where and sweatpants. His hair was a hot mess and he was sure his breath smelled like shit, so he moved to take care of that. The Wii got turned off and he made way to the bathroom where he did his business, brushed his hair and teeth, and splashed water on his face.

Once he finally finished in the bathroom, he had ten minutes to get to Pidge's dorm. It was a fifteen minute drive and he still wasn't dressed. Why did getting ready take so bloody long? Keith haphazardly threw his hair into a bun, if you could even call it that. He grabbed a random pair of jeans off the floor of his room and yanked them on. Next went on a jacket that was hanging off the back of his door, and he grabbed his essentials before heading out the door. Keys, phone, wallet… good enough. He locked the front door and got into the elevator where he pressed the button for the lobby.

Keith emerged from the luckily empty elevator walking briskly in order to try to retain some semblance of being at Pidge's dorm when promised. His mission to the parking lot was uninterrupted besides a few nods and 'Hello's" he gave to passerbyers, which was about three at this time in the afternoon. He made it outside unscathed and found his motorcycle parked where he left it: the designated parking for his type of vehicle. Keith wasn't an asshole who'd take up a car's parking space with his bike. 

He jumped on and after fastening his helmet, he started the engine and began his drive.

After ten minutes of weaving in and out of traffic and running red lights, Keith came to a stop in the parking lot for the Olkari dorms. He turned off the ignition, walked up to the door, and knocked on the olive-coloured wood.

"How may I help you?" A kind woman with a grandmotherly yet intelligent face opened the door.

"Hi, Ryner. I'm here to see Pi- er, Katie." Keith had met the head of the dorm before during emergencies where Pidge had called him in the dead of night for various reasons.

"Oh, Keith, darling. Lovely to see you, come on in." She opened the door wide enough for him to slip past and he did so, waving as he walked to the stairs.

Keith found Pidge in front of her dorm struggling to push a large cardboard box out of the doorway. She paused her efforts and waved to him as he approached, saying, "Hi, Keith. Care to give me a hand?"

Keith quickly moved to assist her and together they got the box to the end of the hallway. "I thought you said you had another guy helping you?"

"He had to leave. Said something about his roommate having a shampoo emergency?" Pidge shrugged and sat on the box they had just moved. "This here," she said, "is Matt's old computer. He gave it to me a while ago but now he needs it back for his game."

"Why?"

"Because he said he doesn't want to fuck up his new PC with the game in case they accidentally created a virus."

"That's his fault, though." Keith leaned casually against a wall, keeping his voice down as not to interrupt the other residents.

"I know, but he loves that PC more than anything. Except for maybe Shiro," Pidge added with a smirk.

"You don't think-"

"Honestly? I wouldn't be surprised. They are literally developing a game together." Pidge jumped up off the box, suddenly alert. "My room door is open!"

"Pidge, we're like twelve feet away." Although he was comfortable against the wall, he reluctantly pushed himself off it and followed Pidge to her room. "How much more stuff do we have to move?"

"Just the wires and stuff," Pidge explained.

"Holy shit, there's so many of them." Keith moved into the very limited space and poked some of the wires with his foot. 

"Matt likes to have options."

"I like what?" Keith felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to face the newcomer, Matt Holt.

"Hey, brother." Pidge threw something at him, which he caught one-handed.

"You found my mouse!" Matt cradled the device to his chest and muttered consolations to it. "Hey, Keith, haven't seen you in a while."

"Yeah," said Keith. "How's the game been going? Shiro says he's barely been involved yet."

Matt nodded his head. "Yeah, it's all coding right now. He's only helping with making the universe right now and doing some research on the nerves connected to the brain."

"Sounds like hell," commented Pidge.

"May as well be. I can't figure out how to stop the terrain from flickering red occasionally, so I may recruit you to help me, Pidge." What Matt said next may as well have been French for all Keith understood- he assumed that the coder was reciting his game code to Pidge for a really quick once-over while they stood in a tiny dorm room.

Even Pidge looked a little confused at the numbers Matt was rattling off. "I'll have to take a look. You know my memory is shit, so text me one day and I'll come over to see."

"Speaking of coming over, darling sister and darling sister's friend-"

"Oh no, he needs something," Pidge said.

"Yes, Katherine, I do indeed require something of you."

"My name isn't even close to that!"

"Well then don't interrupt me!" Pidge gave her a brother a look. "As I was saying," Matt continued, "I would like to invite you both to be beta testers of the game! It seemed like nobody else was willing to get electrocuted a little bit for the sake of geeks everywhere."

"I'll do it," said Keith. "What do I have to lose?"

"A few pounds," Pidge said.

"He could stand to gain some, actually," noted Matt.

"My weight is nothing of your concern!" Keith squeezed his arms against his chest self-consciously, well aware that he was skinnier than average.

"We know, buddy." Pidge continued gathering various objects from around the room as she chatted with her brother about code, and Keith sat on the twin size bed and mindlessly scrolled through his phone.

Keith paused his scrolling to question Matt's whereabouts during the initial moving of technology and asked, "Hey, Matt, why couldn't you have come up and help?"

"I was cold," he said, "and sitting in my car was better than doing this."

"Seriously?" Pidge threw another wire at Matt.

"Yeah, it's like four degrees out."

"Asshat," Pidge said.

When they were done gathering more equipment than Keith thought could humanly fit in Pidge's little dorm room, they all grabbed a box and headed to Matt's car in the parking lot. After loading up the trunk, Keith and Pidge waved him off as he drove back to his house, and then Keith said his goodbyes as well.

\-----

Bitter at stupid drivers, Keith swung his bike into its previous parking spot and threw his helmet onto the handlebars. The fading light illuminated the red paint of the vehicle that he left behind. Keith marched swiftly through the doors and right past the receptionist, who he didn't even pause to wave to as he normally did. Who the hell cut across oncoming traffic to get to a convenience store at sixty miles per hour?

"Watch it!" Keith had suddenly collided with something quite solid.

"I'm sorry," Keith apologised. He moved back from the person and looked up about three inches. What he was not expecting to see was a man with hair as silver-white as Allura's and nearly as long as well. His eyes were hidden by sunglasses, but Keith could see a sharp jawline and very sharp teeth. Needless to say, Keith's little gay heart beat a little faster.

"I'll forgive it, but I have places to be." The man moved Keith aside and continued on his way, leaving Keith staring after him. He hurriedly turned and made it to the elevator where he pressed the button to call for the car. He tapped his foot impatiently to the beat of whatever song was stuck in his head.

"Hello," a woman emerging from the car greeted him. He politely smiled back and took her place in the box.

When he finally made it back to his apartment, he threw his keys, phone, and wallet on the couch and fell next to them.

Searching for his flatmate, he called, "Allura? Are you home yet?" Now that it was nearly seven o'clock, her shift should be over, allowing her to come back home. 

"Is that you, Keith?" Allura poked her head around the corner into the living room from the space next to it. 

"Oh, Allura, do I have shit to tell you." Keith continued by recounting the tale of bumping into the hot guy in the lobby.

"Damn, hook me up," giggled Allura.

"Back off my man, I call dibs."

"I thought you said he wasn't your type?"

"I can get over it - he was insanely hot," Keith said.

"Must've been a literal god for you to be like this," Allura pointed out. "What did he look like? All you've said is that he's really hot."

Keith described mystery man to his best friend, noting his sharp jawline ("You'd get cut."), his long hair, and his strangely pointy teeth.

"Wait a minute." Allura held her hand up for pause and continued, "You said he had a cut-a-bitch attitude? With hair and skin like mine?"

"Yeah, exactly."

Allura's eyes widened as she said, "Holy shit, I know him."

"What?" Keith was shocked and leaned in closer. "How? Who is he?"

"His dad runs a medical company called Empire. It supplies meds to literally every hospital in the country. His name is Lotor."

"Fucking stupid name."

"His dad is called Zarkon and his mom is Honerva. You can't really blame them. Anyways, I know them because Honerva was really close friends with my dad, and so was Zarkon. They used to work together when he was super into chemistry instead of astrology, but then she met Zarkon."

"This sounds like a kid's show." Keith leaned against the cushions and crossed his arms. "Go on."

"I know, right? Zarkon had needed a chemist to help him in his medicine studies, so he asked my dad for help and my dad gave him Honerva's help. The issue is, they exposed themselves to so many experimental drugs that Honerva got addicted. Zarkon was alright, although he did have to go to rehab a few times." Allura's story seemed to get even more crazy as it continued, but Keith couldn't deny that he was intrigued.

"So he was on drugs yet still runs one of the biggest companies ever?"

"Yeah. But now Honerva is an addict and can't remember who her son is, Zarkon is rich as hell, and Lotor is… ugh, really hot but also an ass. I met him when we were kids, but I haven't seen him for a few years. We actually used to be super good friends. I guess he moved back here.".

"Why did your dad keep in touch with a drug addict?"

"Hard to say. I think he could've helped them, but now they're a really broken family. Honerva is out of the picture, Lotor is a runaway, and Zarkon just gives him a monthly allowance." With a conflicted look on her face, Allura copied Keith's position. "Maybe I should get back in touch with him, see how he's doing."

"And hook up with him?" Keith suggested.

"I wasn't gonna say it, but I mean… if he's as cute as I remember, I wouldn't say no." Allura's blush was evident.

"What about Shiro? I thought you had a crush on him?" For as long as Keith could remember, Allura seemed to pine after Shiro, but the older man preferred to concentrate on his studies rather than give Allura a fighting chance. After he graduated, the tables flipped.

"Oh, no, that was over like a year ago. I just enjoy teasing him."

"But Pidge said you still blush when she brings him up," said Keith.

"Just for an audience," reassured Allura.

"Damn."

Changing the subject, Allura said, "Would you look at this? Keith-no-drama-no-gossip-Kogane is having a willing sit-down chat about our love lives."

"I am not!" Keith protested.

"We literally talked about Lotor for an hour."

"It hasn't been that long."

"It's like nine thirty, and we both have an 8AM class tomorrow," said Allura.

"Fine, bedtime I guess. But you know what? We should totally play Mario Kart first," Keith suggested.

"One Grand Prix, and then we're done. Deal?" Allura held her hand out for Keith to take, which he did.

"You have yourself a deal."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the squad meets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry i've been gone adnsdndksn

Keith and Allura arrived at the restaurant where they were supposed to meet Pidge's friends for the first time. It was a simple looking place; definitely more of a teenage hangout than a family restaurant. A bit crowded for Pidge's normal comfort zone, Keith noted silently. There were students seated on barstools, a few of whom Allura waved to as they walked in, people in booths, and a brightly smiling waitress waiting near the door. 

"Table for two?" she asked, looking between Keith and Allura.

"No, thank you, we're supposed to be meeting some friends," Allura clarified as she shook the snow from her head.

"Oh, would the name Pidge Holt be familiar? She said she had two more coming." The waitress scanned her list of patrons and seating and finally landed on Pidge's name.

"Yes, that would be her."

"Right this way, please." The lady grabbed two menus in her arms and led her customers through the building to the back corner. Decorating the vast room were various neon signs with inspirational quotes that made Keith want to throw up.

"Allura!" A tiny blur shot in front of Keith and knocked Allura to the ground.

"Ow!" Allura rubbed her arms where she had just been tackled by Pidge.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but we don't typically condone that behaviour in this establishment." The waitress stood with her arms across her chest, but Keith could see she was fighting back laughter by the way her lips curled up at the corners.

"I'm so sorry, Miss. It won't happen again." Keith looked in the direction of the voice that had just spoken and his eyes fell on a large boy nervously wringing his hands together. He was wearing long cargo pants paired with a yellow t-shirt and an olive-green vest.

"I'll take your word for it." She placed the menus on the table. "I'll be back in a few minutes to get your drinks."

Pidge stood over Allura apologetically and held out a hand, which Allura took. "Sorry, I was just so excited to see you. Lance is driving me fucking insane!"

"Who's Lance?" This time it was Keith who spoke.

"That would be me, and I'd like to add that I'm very kind." Again, Keith faced the source of the sound and found a tall, admittingly good-looking boy staring back at him. Lance's eyes, however, were focused on Allura. "Who's the gorgeous lady?"

"I'm Pidge," Pidge cut in.

"No, stupid, the lady you tackled," Lance huffed.

"My name is Allura Altea. Lovely to meet you." Allura's accent was enough to make Lance stare transfixed at her face. She brushed off her jacket and sat in the booth, ignoring the ocean-blue eyes roaming her face.

"That was my seat!" Pidge protested.

"Not anymore," Allura singsonged.

"Fine," Pidge said, taking a seat next to the larger boy.

"Sit, Keith." Allura pointed to the only other open spot in the booth which happened to be next to Lance.

"Why me?" he groaned.

"Because you're the idiot standing and getting stared at, dude," Pidge pointed out.

Keith hesitated for a moment before saying, "You make a good point." He reluctantly made his way to the open seat next to Lance, who he had yet to be introduced to formally.

"Hey there, Mullet. Fancy seeing you here." Lance said this with an annoyingly smug grin on his face, something that Keith had learned to take as warning owing to his experiences with Pidge. 

"My hair is perfectly fine, thank you," Keith said. He reached a hand to tug at the strands at the back of his neck and sank down where he was sitting by just a little bit. Why did it matter if this boy he just met liked his hair or not? 

"He isn't wrong, Keith. You do probably need a haircut," Pidge said. "Those ends are looking pretty shit."

"You can't say much there, Pidge." The only person Keith didn't know the name of spoke. "Look at those ends!"

"It's not my fault that my brother spat his gum into my hair! What choice did I have?" she protested loudly.

"Who are you?" Keith was not one to ease into much of anything; he was more of a deadpan, straight-to-the-point kind of guy. That was the only kind of straight he was, really.

"Name's Hunk Garrett. I take it you're Keith? Pidge talks about you all the time. She described you as sorta emo-" Hunk, as he had just been introduced, was cut off by a small screech from Pidge.

"I'll have you know I said nothing of the sort!" She reached next to her and covered Hunk's mouth with her little hands, pale skin a contrast to his which took on a darker shade, but not quite as dark as Allura's. Speaking of Allura, she seemed to be stuck in a one-sided flirting session with Lance. Keith giggled to himself when he heard footsteps approaching the table again and assumed it was the waitress coming back to get their drink orders.

His thoughts were confirmed when the lilting voice of the waitress returned. "Excuse me, but I'm going to have to ask you to quiet down. We have had reports of screeching."

"So sorry, darling," Lance chimed in. "Won't happen again." He gave a smile paired with a wink to the brunette girl reprimanding them.

"I certainly hope not. Now, may I ask for your drink orders?" Her cheeks were dusted with a light pink tinge, the colour barely visible under honey-coloured skin. "Oh, I forgot to mention, but I'm Shay and I'll be your server for tonight."

Each member of the group took turns ordering drinks, most people choosing water. Lance, however, ordered strawberry lemonade, something Keith didn't find at all surprising. But why was he observing this Cuban boy so closely?

"Thank you, I'll be back with those as soon as possible." Shay tucked her notepad into her pocket and turned to head towards the kitchen.

"So, Pidge, why don't you introduce us to your friends?" Allura requested. She shuffled slightly in her seat and adjusted her skirt.

"Oh yeah. So this," Pidge gestured towards Hunk, "is my robotics partner, Hunk Garrett. Basically a genius, and he bakes the best muffins you've ever had."

"I can attest to that statement," Lance interjected.

"Thanks, guys." Hunk smiled happily.

"Yeah. This asshole here is Lance McClain. He studies marine biology. He dances a little, he's Cuban, and a stuck up asshole."

"Hey! I am not, you little shit," Lance pouted, lower lip jutting out childishly.

"Actually, Lance..."

Hunk was interrupted again by Lance's loud voice, "No, Hunk, don't finish that. I just love myself."

"A bit too much, buddy," Pidge assured.

"It's healthy!"

"Sounds pretty accurate to me, dude." Keith had known Lance for a short while but he was already quite opinionated about him.

"Come on. You don't even know me!" Lance threw his hands in the air in mock exasperation.

"All the better for him," Pidge said.

"Why don't we get off the subject of Lance's clearly over-inflated ego and settle an important question?" Hunk suggested.

"Everyone is against me," Lance sighed. "Let's hear it."

"Are fire breathing dragons fireproof?" Hunk said this with a dead-serious look on his face, clearly one to be deeply invested in mythical creature anatomy.

"Don't even get me started," Pidge warned.

"I'd like to hear your opinion."

Keith and Allura made eye contact and sighed, already having heard Pidge's entire argument over dragons and their tendencies many times with Matt. 

Pidge took a deep breath and began, "My opinion is as follows, and each point should be thoroughly explained. I'll take questions afterwards. Now, fire breathing dragons are not fireproof. They, like any other creatures, have a weakness. Not necessarily fire, but a weakness. Dragons have soft underbellies. Sure, they have scales as armour, but those only do so much. The scaled parts of their bodies are indeed fire resistant, but enough heat from an old enough dragon - as you may know, the older the dragon, the hotter the fire - will harm the scales. The underbelly is not at all- it is resistant to heat, but not fire. The skin there is stronger than human skin, obviously, but it still burns." Pidge paused to take a breath and adjust herself to sit on her knees, during which Hunk took the opportunity to speak.

"But if their scales are fireproof, wouldn't they also be immune to lava?"

Pidge took another deep breath - for dramatic effect, Keith assumed - and began again. "No, they are not immune to lava. Lava is molten rock, making it different from fire, which scientists can't assign to be a solid, liquid, or gas, but many have assumed that it is closely related to gas. Lava burns hotter, especially because it gets expelled from underground after being housed near the core for years. Dragon scales could easily be melted by lava. The scales do provide protection from the heat given off by lava, but they don't actually keep the dragon safe."

Hunk took the next pause to insert his own opinion. "But they're dragons! They breathe the fire, so how would they be vulnerable to fire? The fire passes through their throats because clearly it starts in the stomach and gets expelled through the throat, so what you're saying is that they just always have hella burned throats."

"No, Hunk, clearly they have protective lining along there. Their stomachs are made of the same stuff as their throats, and their lips are also protected. Along with their tongues." Pidge held up her hand as soon as Hunk opened his mouth to protest. "If you're concerned about their eyes, they have a third eyelid that closes to protect the sclera, which is the white of their eyes."

Lance stared at her wide-eyed and said, "You sound like you've written an essay on this before."

"Actually, we have," Hunk explained. "Professor Ulaz made us write opinion essays at the start of term about something we were passionate about, and since Pidge and I are lab partners, we chose to do this topic because of our contrasting opinions."

"Then why are you arguing now over it if you already know where each of you stands?" Keith interjected.

"There was a great debate the day Ulaz read the papers aloud. My side won," Pidge said smugly.

"That's because you threatened everyone!" Hunk protested.

"You should've seen her when she came over to our house that day," Allura told everyone. "She was literally bouncing off the walls."

"You gave her sugar, that's why." Keith crossed his arms and looked at Allura.

"It was so worth the calories," said Pidge.

Keith rolled his eyes as he reminded her, "You literally ate an entire cake yourself."

"Fuck you."

"He's gay, Pidge." Allura laughed as she watched her friends argue.

"He- what?" Lance had suddenly gone pink in the face and stared open-mouthed at Keith.

"Got a problem?" Keith intensified his arm crossing.

"In his pants," Pidge teased. Her comment only made Lance turn redder and stumble over his words.

"I- no- can't- what? No?" 

"You can't get a boner?" Hunk looked at his friend, genuinely worried for his health.

"Um, excuse me... I- I have your drinks." Shay was back and looking like she wanted to run as far away as possible from these people.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," Hunk said. "I think we may just take our drinks and then the check... Is that possible?"

"I can do that," Shay assured.

"We'll do that, then." Hunk waved her off after she set the drinks down to a chorus of Thank you's and I'm sorry's. "Guys, really?"

"Oops."

The group exited the restaurant about fifteen minutes later after nearly getting kicked out for volume.

Pidge walked a few feet in front of the group and looked into the sky. "Ow, fuck, I got a snowflake in my eye."

"With those glasses?" Lance reached forward to poke her round lenses.

"Yes, you fucktard, with the glasses. They aren't impervius of everything." She swatted his hand away and moved back into the mass of people they had created.

"We should go somewhere now that we got kicked out of the restaurant," suggested Allura.

"There's a park about five blocks down this street," Hunk said, pointing with his right hand to the left of where they were standing.

"I love parks!" Allura shouted, getting her a few looks from other people. "I mean, let's go." So the group of five turned down the road and walked five blocks, lights from Christmas displays in the stores illuminating their faces.

After a walk of laughing and teasing, they arrived. Pidge, upon spotting a slide and swing set, exclaimed, "Holy shit, it's a playground!" and took off, climbing up the slide with no regard to her friends.

Keith sighed at all this energy everyone seemed to have and asked, "Who gave her sugar today?"

"Probably Matt," answered Allura. "She said today was the day that he wanted her to look over the game code."

"Hey, guys! Snowball fight!" Pidge's outburst was followed by Lance getting a face full of snow.

"Oh, it's on, shrimp." Lance picked up the white substance with his bare hands, warning, "I grew up with four siblings, so you better watch out." Pidge shrieked and jumped from the playground, making Lance give chase.

"What the fuck?" Keith swung his head around, which had just been hit by a snowball, and saw Lance standing behind him with his hand outstretched in a throwing position. "You better run."

Allura and Hunk remained on the sidelines as they watched the three others run around like idiots while throwing fistfuls of snow at each other. "They won't ever grow up, will they?" Allura asked her new companion.

Hunk looked at his new companion and said, "I've known Lance since we were like ten and he hasn't really changed, only gotten more vain and knowledgeable about hair and skincare products."

"Keith is only like this when in competition or provoked, and I've never seen him in real competitive settings. I only know that from Shiro."

"Wait, you know Shiro?"

"Yeah, he's one of our best friends. Why?"

"Pidge always mentions him when she talks about the game her brother is making. Says he's doing the awesome medical tech stuff required for actually playing the game."

"Oh, yeah, they're doing it together. Matt is pretty terrible at anything other than coding." Allura paused the conversation just in time to watch Lance get tackled by Pidge with no mercy, then she shoved more snow into his face while Keith watched and hid his laughter behind his hands. "Should we intervene?"

"Nah, I've seen Veronica do worse to him," Hunk waved off the recommendation.

"Who's Veronica? His girlfriend?"

Hunk laughed and replied, "No, she's his older sister. He also has an older brother and two younger siblings, who are twins. Their house is crazy during the holidays."

"I can imagine. Do you have any siblings?"

"No, it's just me and my parents." Hunk smiled, presumably at the thought of his family, but that changed when he got hit in the back by a chunk of snow. "Hey, what the heck?"

"Sorry, buddy! Can't leave you out of this!" Lance finished with a screech as Keith threw more snow at him.

"Allura, you should fight as well! Team up with me!" Keith pleaded. "And I want new gloves," he added, rubbing his bare hands together for warmth.

"Hmmm... I think I'll team up with Pidge." Allura smiled her wicked grin and walked away from Hunk to Pidge, who was standing a distance away from the rest.

"Me, Hunk, and Keith against the girls, then," Lance decided. "May the best players win!"

"You just made a terrible deal, Lance," Keith warned. "Those girls are like a well-oiled machine when they work together. It must be feminine instinct."

"Oh, hell, it's on now," Pidge growled. Her battle cry rang in everyone's ears as she scooped snow into her small hands and shaped it; "TO HELL WITH GENDER ROLES!"

"Keith, you really know how to piss her off," Hunk yelled to his teammate as they ran from the tiny blur chasing them.

"It's no mistake that I said that. It's a better fight when she's like this." Keith explained. He paused to give Lance and Hunk a rundown of what to do, and they split.

"No the fuck you don't!" said Pidge, still chasing them.

"Pidge, slow down!" Allura was quite a distance away, holding her own snowballs - one in each hand. "You don't even work out; How are you running this quick?"

"Sugar and homophobes. And I'm not binding today." Keith didn't have time to retaliate to Pidge's remark before he was hit in the face. "Take that, asshole!"

Lance looked fearful as he said, "That is one angry little gremlin."

"Only Keith and Allura can call me that!"

Soon after the fight had begun, it was over. Pidge had taken her revenge on Keith by shoveling snow down his shirt and his pants (she was very talented), on Lance by hitting him with ice a few times, and had mostly left Hunk to be dealt with by Allura. Keith eventually turned on Lance and they had their own mini fight, ending with Lance victorious.

"I'm going to need ice for ice," Lance complained.

"Power to the gremlins," Pidge recited. She and Allura shared a high-five as they all continued towards the direction of the college campus.

"My balls are going to fall off."

"Ew, Keith, nobody wants to hear about your balls." Pidge scrunched up her nose.

"Except for maybe Lance." High-fives went around between everyone besides Keith and Lance as Allura congratulated Hunk on his quick comeback. The boys in question had both gone red in the face and separated quickly from where they were walking next to each other.

In order to change the subject, Keith pointed towards Pidge's dorm, which they were passing. "Pidge, this is your stop."

"Oh, yeah. Thanks. Bye, everyone!" The remaining four watched Pidge's retreating back, laughing quietly as remnants of snow from their great battle fell from her hair.

"What dorm are you guys in?" Allura asked.

"Balmera," Hunk answered. 

"Oh, I have a Med Course friend in there!"

"Who?" Lance said as he wiggled his eyebrows. "Maybe you could introduce us sometime."

"You probably already know her. Her name is Ezor."

Lance went pale in the face as Hunk laughed. "She's scary!"

"Did you try flirting with her?"

"Maybe," Lance looked down.

"She doesn't play for your team, buddy," Keith supplied.

"All the hot ones are either taken or not interested in men!" Lance cried.

"Keith is, though."

"Allura! I'll hit you with another snowball," threatened Keith.

"I mean... I'm not wrong, am I?" 

Hunk grinned as Lance went pink and said, "Apparently Lance hopes you aren't."

"Oh, fuck off, guys." Keith did his signature arm crossing and glared at the pair who had just met, yet were already united against him. "Lance, back me up."

"I never thought I'd agree with someone who has a mullet, but really?" Lance copied Keith's pose and tapped his foot, stopping the procession of their walking.

"Couples who pose together stay together." Allura reached for her phone but her efforts were halted by Keith swatting at her arm, breaking the double-person pose.

"No, no, no, no pictures!"

"Why not?" Allura protested.

"Because I look like a rat," said Lance.

"As I'm sure is the usual," Keith responded.

"I have flawless skin, Mullet."

"I have flawless… physique."

"Keith, you go the gym once a week," said Allura.

"Once more than this rat!" Keith said.

"Hey! I jog," said Lance.

"To the fridge," Hunk reminded.

"Me too, Lance," Allura reassured.

"See? I win," declared Keith.

"Guys, I hate to break our beautiful loop of teasing, but it's nearly eleven o'clock. Curfew is at midnight, and I don't want to get chewed out by Rax again for cutting it close." Hunk held up his own phone as proof.

"You make a good case, buddy," Lance said, reaching out to pat Hunk on the shoulder.

"Thank you."

"Well, I guess this means we'll be on our way." Lance smiled at Allura and pointed finger guns towards Keith. "See you around?"

"Actually, Lance, I was wondering if I could get your number? And yours, Hunk. You seem like good people to be friends with." Allura successfully pulled out her phone and handed it to Hunk, who typed in both boys' contact information

"I'm not sure about Lance, but I'm not a bad friend to have. I bake," said Hunk.

"Hey! I'm not that bad!" Once again, Lance was under fire.

"Don't start; you know you're dramatic. I live with you," Hunk said.

"Fine. But at least I'm basically a skincare professional!"

"Don't you two need to be going?" Keith was impatient as always and eager to retreat back to his bed and see his cat.

"Sorry, Mullet, is it past your bedtime?" Lance teased.

"May as well be, look how grouchy he's getting!" Keith foiled Allura's attempt to pinch his cheek like he was an infant and only scowled more.

"I'm tired and cold still - Pidge put snow down my fucking pants!"

"Okay, okay, we're going. Night, Allura, night, Mullet!" Lance grabbed Hunk by the arm and led them down the path to Balmera dorms, leaving Keith and Allura standing under the fluorescent light of the lamps lining the sidewalks.

\-----

Before going to bed once they finally got home, Keith took off his wet pants and boxers and took a warm shower despite the fact that he was practically falling asleep on his feet. He didn't bother drying his hair and left his towel on the floor, but he did locate Allura to ask her one final question.

"Can I have Lance's number?"


End file.
